Citizen Advocacy Center

Class Action Lawsuits

Lesson Plan and Activity

Grade Level: 9, 10, 11, 12

Subjects:

• Social Studies: U.S., State, and Local Government
• Language Arts: Reading, Writing

Duration: 2 class periods

Description: This lesson provides an overview of class action lawsuits and the American legal system.

ISBE Standards:

• Social Science
• 14D: Understand the roles and influences of individuals and interest groups in the political systems of Illinois, the United States and other nations;
• 14A: Understand and explain basic principles of the United States government; and
• 18B: Understand the roles and interactions of individuals and groups on society.
• Language Arts
• 1B: Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency;
• 1C: Comprehend a broad range of reading materials;
• 3A: Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and structure;
• 3B: Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes;
• 4A: Listen effectively in formal and informal situations; and
• 4B: Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

Objectives:

• Gain a basic understanding of class action lawsuits;
• Identify the advantages and disadvantages to class action lawsuits;
• Experience a Senate hearing; and
• Create a persuasive argument as to why class action lawsuits are good or bad.

Materials:

• pen
• paper
• internet or library resources

Instruction and Activity:

1. Present your class with the following hypothetical:
• You have been working all summer, saving your money to buy your first new car. When the time comes, you go to the dealership, test drive a number of vehicles and decide on a new black sports car manufactured by one of the major car producers. You drive the car off the lot and as soon as you get on the express way the car erupts into flames. You immediately pull over and escape the car with minor burns. However, you now have no car and $10,000 in medical bills. You read in the paper that two other individuals in your town also had their new sports cars erupt onto flames. What should you do? (Allow the class to brainstorm possible solutions)
2. Ask the class if they have ever heard of a class action.
• Class Action lawsuits are suits brought by a group of persons who all have a common complaint against a common defendant. For example, 1.6 million female employees are currently suing Wal-Mart. The female plaintiffs allege that Wal-Mart systematically paid women less than men in similar positions, and passed women over for promotions. All the women have the same complaint and the complaints are all against the same entity, Wal-Mart. It would be too burdensome on the plaintiffs, the defendant, and the courts for each woman to file a case separately against Wal-Mart on the same exact issue using the same exact sets of evidence. It is more convenient to try the cases as one case. Therefore, the women qualify as a plaintiff class.
• Going back to the hypothetical, do you think a class action would work with your situation?
3. Historically, class action lawsuits are a frequent and effective tool in civil rights cases. For example, in 2002, the NAACP and various other civil rights organizations filed a class action against the state of Florida seeking to end Florida’s discriminatory and unequal voting policies and practices. The Plaintiffs allege that during the 2000 election campaign, Florida wrongfully purged African-American voters from official voters’ lists, failed to properly process the registration of African-American voters and established unjustified barriers to African-American votes.
• Class actions are effective in relation to civil rights abuses because they allow for all the members of the class to share the expense of the litigation, as well as present a more persuasive case by demonstrating many instances of wrong-doing.
4. More recently, class actions have been used in cases other than civil rights cases. These cases typically never go to trial, and resort in large settlements for the plaintiffs:
• toxic tort cases: cases brought by a group of people who allege that they have suffered some sort of medical injury because a company polluted the air or water in their area;
• consumer liability cases: cases brought by consumers against a company because the company produced some sort of defective product that was physically harmful;
• pharmaceutical cases: cases brought by individuals that took a common medical drug with harmful side-effects;
• inflated price cases: cases brought by individuals who had to pay inflated prices because of illegal anti-competitive activities by a large corporation.
5. Tell the class to go to http://www.bigclassaction.com/ Note: If computers are unavailable, the teacher can simply print off examples of class actions to distribute to the class.
• Ask the class to choose one of the categories listed at the bottom of the page. Then click on a link under “Join a Pending Class Action.”
• Explain to the class that at the top of the page they will see a short summary about a current class action. The form following the summary is where someone who has suffered the same harm would submit their story and agree to join the class action.
• Explain to the class that once someone agrees to join a class they are bound to the result. Therefore, if a class member is unhappy with the results of the trial or settlement, that class member cannot bring a second suit and try again.
6. There are many arguments for and against class actions. Individuals who support class action lawsuits argue the following:
• With class action lawsuits, average citizens can band together to fight government entities or powerful corporations that would otherwise be very difficult to fight, on issues that individually are small and would not be worth pursuing against a big corporation individually.
• Because litigation is so expensive, class actions allow individuals to bring suits that they otherwise could not afford. Most attorneys require prepayment of their anticipated fees and costs in the form of a retainer. Such a retainer can be $10,000 or more. In class action cases, most attorneys make the arrangement that they will get paid on a contingent fee – they get paid only if they win. Therefore, more individuals can afford to stand up for their rights because they will not pay the attorney unless they win, and the attorneys’ fees will be a part of the judgment.
• Many times corporations will not stop doing something unless they suffer a heavy financial blow. Therefore, 1,000 citizens suing for $10,000 each is much more powerful than 1 citizen suing for $10,000.
7. Individuals who do not support class actions argue:
• The only people who really benefit from class actions are the plaintiff’s lawyers because of huge lawyers fees. For example, a class action of 10,000 citizens sues a company for $100 million dollars. The lawyer collects a 20% lawyer fee or $20 million. The citizens each get $800.
• Because of the large settlements in class action lawsuits, the cost of the litigation gets passed onto the company’s consumers and prices go up.
8. Imagine that the class is the Senate and someone has introduced a bill to eliminate class action lawsuits. Have each student adopt a position for or against the bill. Ask students to formulate a short, persuasive statement on why the “Senate” should vote for or against the bill. Allow the class to use the internet and other resources to help them develop their statement.
• The next class, hold a Senate hearing where each student will present their arguments. Encourage the students to address each other as “Distinguished” or “Honorable” Senator and to dress up for the hearing. At the end of class hold a vote.

Sources:

http://www.bigclassaction.com/

www.atra.org/show/7337

www.lieffcabraser.com/about.htm

www.publiccitizen.org

©Copyright 2005 Citizen Advocacy Center. All rights reserved. No part of this lesson plan may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior, written permission of the Citizen Advocacy Center. The Citizen Advocacy Center is a 501(c)(3) non-pofit, non-partisan community based legal organization. For information about the Center, or to make a tax deductible contribution, visit www.citizenadvocacycenter.org, call 630.833.4080. The Center is located at 238 N. York Rd., Elmhurst IL 60126